What happens when you’ve reached the point of burnout, taken time to recover, and returned to the same life that exhausted you in the first place?
For many leaders, pastors, caregivers, and helping professionals, burnout isn’t simply about working too much. It’s about the expectations we carry, the patterns we’ve developed, and the pressure we place on ourselves to keep going, even when we’re running on empty.
In this episode of the Care to Change Podcast, therapist and Managing Director April Bordeau welcomes pastor Brandon Shields to discuss his personal journey through burnout after more than 25 years in ministry. Brandon shares how chronic anxiety, leadership pressures, criticism, and the demands of church planting eventually left him physically exhausted, emotionally depleted, and spiritually weary.
Together, April and Brandon explore why rest alone isn’t always enough to recover from burnout, how our internal beliefs and relational patterns contribute to chronic exhaustion, and what it looks like to rebuild a life that supports lasting emotional, physical, and spiritual health.
Through honest conversation and practical wisdom, they discuss the importance of community, healthy boundaries, Sabbath, and creating sustainable rhythms of care.
In This Episode, You’ll Hear About:
- Why burnout is more than physical exhaustion and how to recognize emotional and spiritual weariness
- Three common signs of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and a growing sense of ineffectiveness
- How childhood experiences, internal expectations, and negative thought patterns can contribute to recurring burnout
- Why pastors, leaders, and helping professionals can struggle to acknowledge their own limitations
- The importance of vulnerability, meaningful relationships, and asking for support
- Why recovering from burnout often requires changing the structure of your life, not simply taking a vacation
- Practical rhythms of care, including silence, solitude, prayer, physical health, and community
- How Sabbath can become an opportunity for rest, delight, and trust rather than another religious obligation
- Learning to separate your identity and worth from your productivity and performance
- Small changes you can begin making today to build a healthier, more sustainable life
Key Takeaway
You cannot build a sustainable life on the same patterns that led you to burnout.
Recovery requires more than stepping away from responsibilities temporarily. It means examining the beliefs, expectations, relationships, and habits that shape your everyday life and intentionally creating room for restoration.
You don’t have to wait until you’re completely exhausted to begin making changes.
Resources Mentioned
- The End of Burnout by Jonathan Malesic
- The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen
- The practice of Sabbath, silence, solitude, and developing a personal rule of life
- Spiritual direction, counseling, and supportive community
Need Support?
If you’re recognizing patterns of burnout, struggling with chronic exhaustion, or finding it difficult to create healthy rhythms in your life, you don’t have to navigate the process alone.
At Care to Change, our therapists help individuals identify the patterns contributing to emotional exhaustion, work through underlying concerns, and develop practical strategies for lasting change.
Visit www.caretochange.org or call 317-790-9396 to connect with our team.
About Brandon:
Brandon Shields serves as the Director of Church Formation for Practicing the Way, a ministry that helps churches form lifelong apprentices to Jesus.
Brandon has served in pastoral ministry for 25 years, including the last 14 as founding and lead pastor at Soma Midtown in urban Indianapolis. He has also been a contributing author to several books on pastoral ministry, including Perspectives on Family Ministry and Faithful Endurance. He’s written articles and been interviewed for publications like Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and For the Church.
Brandon holds an undergraduate degree in business, a graduate degree in missiology, and a Ph.D in leadership. He currently lives in Indianapolis with Emily, his wife of 22 years, and his four amazing children.
To connect with Brandon or learn more about his ministry, email [email protected]. Instagram: @brandonshields @practicingtheway
